Robert Korn LIPPMANN1898–1969

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of these bony infections. His pioneer work on the transplantation of tissues such as fat, fascia, tendons, nerves, and bone continues to influence orthopedic and plastic surgery procedures today.

His use of whole joints from cadavers as trans- plants into patients was just a small part of this work. We are fortunate that one of his students has compiled a bibliography of these papers.

Lexer’s life, which he lived to the fullest, was characterized by vitality and energy. His ego at times caused him to be abrasive and aggres- sive, but none of his contemporaries doubted his ability. His great artistic talent was sublimated in his surgical technique, which was of such a high level of virtuosity that it lent itself easily to show- manship. Lexer was a surgeon in a very broad sense who made substantial and lasting contribu- tions to the development of the special areas of plastic and orthopedic surgery.

References

1. Killian H, Kramer G (1951) Meister der Chirurgie and die Chirurgenschulen im Deutschen Raum.

Stuttgart, Georg Thieme

2. May H (1962) Erich Lexer, a biographical sketch.

Plast Reconstr Surg 29:141

3. May H (1962) The bibliography of Erich Lexer’s scientific work. Plast Reconstr Surg 30:670

196

Robert Korn LIPPMANN

1898–1969

Dr. Lippmann was born and educated in New York, having been graduated from De Witt Clinton High School in 1915 and Columbia Uni- versity in 1918, where he received a BS degree.

From 1918 to 1922, Dr. Lippmann was a medical student at Johns Hopkins and was one of its several graduates who became internationally prominent in orthopedics. From 1923 to 1925, Dr.

Lippmann was an intern at Mount Sinai Hospital.

His first year in orthopedics was spent studying bone pathology in Vienna in the laboratory of Professor Erdheim, where he was introduced to a basic scientific approach to the specialty that remained the foundation of much of his future work. In 1925, he studied under Professor Putti at the Istituto Rizzoli in Bologna. On his return to Mount Sinai in 1926 as Adjunct Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Lippmann joined his Chief of Service, Dr. P. William Nathan, in practice. He began investigating the pathology and etiology of osteochondritis of the hip in children.

While Adjunct, then Associate Orthopedic

Surgeon, and finally Chief of the Orthopedic

Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Lippmann

also served as Adjunct Orthopedic Surgeon and

Associate Orthopedic Surgeon at Montefiore

Hospital. At Montefiore he became Chief of

Service in 1938, but resigned in 1942, 3 years

after he became Director of the Department of

Orthopedic Surgery and Orthopedic Surgeon-in-

Chief at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Lippmann

served as Orthopedic Surgeon-in-Chief for almost

30 years at Blythedale, a long-term children’s

care hospital in Valhalla, New York, and at the

time of his death was Director Emeritus of Ortho- pedics, and Emeritus Professor of the Department of Orthopedics of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Dr. Lippmann was a superb craftsman, capable of translating his mechanical concepts into reality.

In his office was a workshop with power tools and a lathe to work out the designs of devices that were later fabricated, or new instruments to facilitate his surgery. Among his many original contributions were the first compression bolt for fractures of the hip, spike osteotomy of the femur in children, repair of tibial condyle fractures, a transfixing hip prosthesis, etiology and treatment of adhesive capsulitis and parainflammatory joint instability, and auscultatory percussion of bone as a means of detecting fractures and assessing their progress of healing. The Robert K. Lippmann Orthopedic Research Laboratory at Mount Sinai was established in 1965 in his honor.

Outside his hospital practice, Dr. Lippmann participated in community, national, and interna- tional orthopedics. He was a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, serving as secretary (1949–1950) and chairman (1950–1951) of the orthopedic section, and as a member of the advi- sory committee (1951–1956). He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (1932), serving as a member of its New York and Brooklyn Regional Fracture Committee (1949).

He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (1932) and a member of the American Orthopedic Association (1954), the Orthopedic Research Society (1959), and the Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopédique et de Traumatologie (SICOT) (1957).

Dr. Lippmann developed a spirit of cooperation and dedication on the Mount Sinai Orthopedic Service. He encouraged free discussion, dis- agreements, and thorough exploration of clinical problems. These were his basic techniques in resident-training. He was an accomplished pianist and taught himself how to play the organ. In the back of his mind was always the idea that he would some day describe the principles of con- servative orthopedics that he taught—a task that must be completed by his students. Dr. and Mrs.

Lippmann’s great friendliness was evident in their many contacts with the residents and staff, particularly at the monthly evening journal club meetings at their home in New York and at their summer home in Stamford.

At Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Lippmann’s service and leadership over a period of 43 years,

his scientific inquiry and teaching, his sense of humanity and the ethical code manifest in his practice and in his approach to patients formed the foundations of the orthopedic service and had great influence on the growth of the hospital as a whole.

Until his untimely and sudden death on June 9, 1969, at the age of 70, Dr. Robert Korn Lippmann was actively engaged in orthopedic practice. Dr.

Lippmann was survived by his wife, his daugh- ter, Mrs. Nancy L. Heon, his son, Robert D.

Lippmann, and his grandson, R.R. Dennis Heon.

197

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

Joseph LISTER

1827–1912

Joseph Lister was born at Upton House, Essex, on

April 5, 1827. For generations his family had

belonged to the Society of Friends and the early

influence of this body continued to govern his

whole life. His father, J.J. Lister, was exception-

ally versatile. He had considerable success in

business in the city and somehow managed in his

leisure to acquire a worldwide reputation for his

researches in optics, which led to the perfection

of the modern microscope and his election to the

Fellowship of the Royal Society. He also collab-

orated with Thomas Hodgkin in the publication

of papers on microscopic observations of

blood and animal tissues. Furthermore, he was an

accomplished artist and a good linguist. From this

it may be gathered that the young Lister was born

into an environment highly favorable for the